Friday, December 31, 2010

A list of notable Eagles events this past year that I compiled for fun. 2010 was a great year. Let's hope 2011 - the 40th anniversary of the Eagles' formation - is even better! I have a feeling it's gonna be EPIC.

THE 2010 RUNDOWN:

January

11: Rolling Stone prints an article stating that the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are preparing to tour together. Controversy over the move abounds in both the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac fandoms. Two days later, however, Timothy B. Schmit states that he hasn't heard anything about it and the plans come to nothing.

27: Joe Walsh (rock star) sues Joe Walsh (congressional candidate) for putting lyrics promoting himself to the melody of "Life's Been Good" and posting a video of the song being performed on YouTube and his own site.

February

20: Deacon Frey and friends put on a benefit for Haiti at the House of Blues in Hollywood, California, with Deacon and his father Glenn Frey performing together as the final act. Glenn Frey performs several covers he has never before played in public such as "Werewolves of London" and sings lead vocals on "Life in the Fast Lane" publicly for the first time since 1993.

March

13: Joe Walsh (rock star) settles with Joe Walsh (candidate) when the latter agrees to take down the offending video and promise never to repost it, nor to use the former's songs in any other way in his campaign.

16: Eagles announce that they will be playing several stadium dates with The Dixie Chicks and (sometimes) Keith Urban over the summer. Controversy continues in the Eagles fandom, with fans fearing the Eagles will make this the standard and ditch full shows. Also, fans who aren't country music aficionados don't look forward to sitting through country acts to hear an abbreviated Eagles set. Luckily, that did not turn out to be the case. The next day, Glenn Frey does a run of rare TV interviews alongside Dixie Chick singer Natalie Maines to promote the project.

26: Timothy B. Schmit plays the first of several solo dates in England, his first ever solo shows in the country; indeed, in addition to the handful of solo dates he played in America in the fall of 2009, the British solo shows constitute the only ones he has ever played anywhere.

April

16: Eagles commence the long-awaited west coast leg of their tour (their last visit was in 2005) at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles; it is also their first time playing at the historic venue. They add "Seven Bridges Road" into their setlist for the first time in years, sending the vast majority of hardcore fans into ecstasies. They even play the full version for several shows before truncating it by removing the final verse after the full stop.

May

6: Glenn and Cindy Frey win the "Loop Award" from the Los Angeles Lupus organization; Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh, aka The Party of Two, play the benefit to help raise funds for the foundation and its work.

13: Timothy B. Schmit is suddenly struck down by an ailment of the innards and is hospitalized, causing the postponement of several shows and a Joe Walsh meet'n'greet. Fans freak out. After a tense week, the shows are rescheduled and Schmit issues an announcement stating that all is well.

29: Joe Walsh does his only meet'n'greet of the year in Portland, Oregon.

31: Joe Walsh issues a restraining order against an elderly neighbor who has threatened to kill him.

July

10: Eagles kick off their "Summer Tour" with The Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

19: Eagles announce that they will play Australia at the end of the year, their first visit Down Under since 2004.

23: Eagles make a rare television appearance on the Australian show Hey Hey It's Saturday.

26: Eagles add "Best of My Love" to their setlist beginning at a Dallas, Texas concert; it is the first time the song has been played by the Eagles in years.

August

5: On the eve of his win against Chuck DeVore (see below) Henley gives an interview to the Campaigns and Copyrights blog which, in addition to discussing the case, excoriates YouTube and calls for government action against the site; his rant is so vociferous that it garners broad-based media attention all the way from tech blogs to Rolling Stone. When Rolling Stone characterizes Henley's attitude towards YouTube as "surprisingly conservative," manager Irving Azoff uses his then-newly created Twitter account to tweet his indignation.

8: Don Henley and co-plaintiffs Mike Campbell and Danny Kortchmar finally win their lawsuit against politician Chuck DeVore (proceedings first began in April 2009). DeVore was sued for posting on YouTube and his own site political satires done to the tunes of "Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", changing the lyrics to criticize President Obama and DeVore's political opponent Barbara Boxer. As part of the court decision, DeVore is forbidden to post the videos or to make more of them, and is forced to pay an undisclosed amount of money to Henley, Campbell, and Kortchmar. The judgment also forces DeVore to apologize to Henley for casting aspersions upon his character.

September

4: The Party of Two plays its first public show since 1993 at the Jazz Aspen Music Festival in Snowmass, Colorado.

17: Don Henley plays the first of a spate of solo dates on the west coast. While promoting the shows, Henley reveals that he plans to put out two solo albums in the next year: one will be country and one will be rhythm'n'blues. Both will contain covers as well as some original material.

October

4: Don Henley is stricken by a mystery ailment and several shows are called off as a result; again, fans freak out; again, after a tense week, he is back on his feet and the shows are rescheduled. However, Henley leaves off playing the drums for a while until he is fully recuperated and largely remains out in front wearing a guitar for the next few shows.

10: Eagles headline the Austin City Limits Music Festival, one of the few music festivals they have played as a band in recent years. They astound hardcores familiar with their usual shortened setlist by performing the song "Long Road Out of Eden", a song which has never before or since been played in a shortened set.

29: Eagles play the last of their shows in America - for now! - in Lubbock, Texas.

November

15: Beginning with Japanese dates in February and March of 2011, the Eagles schedule their first shows in Asia since 2004.

30: Eagles kick off the long-awaited Australian leg of the tour in Sydney, temporarily adding back some Long Road Out of Eden material into the setlist which had previously been dropped. Attendees at the first Sydney date are the only ones who hear "Seven Bridges Road", "Best of My Love", "Busy Being Fabulous", "Guilty of the Crime", and "Somebody" all performed at the same show. Of the latter three, only "Somebody" continues to be played past this night.

December

20: Eagles add German and Austrian dates for June of 2011 in what looks to be the beginnings of a European leg of the tour to take place in the summer.

21: Eagles announce several 2011 dates in China; it will be the first time the band has ever performed in that country.

22: Eagles wrap up the Australian tour in Melbourne by performing "Please Come Home for Christmas", a song they had not done as a band since December 31, 1999 at the New Year's Eve show which ushered in the new millennium.

23:Undercover posts interviews with Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh where it is stated that the Eagles will be playing more American dates in 2011, and Walsh goes so far as to suggest the Eagles might make a new album. Walsh also states he will release a new solo album in the spring or summer of 2011.